Means for removing yeast from fermenting whisky-mash.



No. 888,627. PATENTED MAY 26, 1908. i]. G LUYTIES.

MEANS FOR REMOVING YEAST FROM FERMENTING WHISKY MA$H.

APILlOATION FILED JAN. 23, 1907.

o'r'ro G, LU rIEs, F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

HEANS FOR REMOVING YEAST FROM. FERMENTING WHIBKY-IKABH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2c, 1908.

/ i Application filed January 23, 1907. Serial No. 358,682.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'r'ro G. LUYTIES, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of Baltimore, State of 5 Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Removing Yeast from Fermenting Whisky-Mash, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved means for removing the yeast-containing foam from the surface of fermenting mash, and from the tank containing the same.

My invention has for its object a means whereby the foam may be removed easily and expeditiously by a single operator without being lifted over the e ge of the tank or requiring any receiving ap aratus or other equipment near the top of t e tank.

I accomplish the ob ects of my invention by means of a vertic tube located within the tank, terminating at its upper end above the level of the mash in an open funnel, and connected through the bottom of the tank with a tubular extension to a runway for the foam to an apparatus for separating and recovering the yeast. The tu e is made telesco ic within the tank, whereby during the ear y part of the fermentation the funnel may be maintained at a level above the foam, and

when it is desired to remove the foam, may

be lowered through the foam to about the level of the mash. In connection with the tubular off-take for the foam I provide a fixed uidev and a rotatable skimming device in the orm of a board or paddle pivoted centrally of the tank and so positioned with respect to the ofl-take tube that upon a sin le' complete rotation of the paddle all the 0am on the mash will be forced and guided into the off- 40 take. I have provided special means hereinafter to be described,- for attaching and adjusting the skimmingdevice and for guiding the foam to the off-taker By means of my invention a single operator, by walking around the to of the tank carrying the free end of the s 'mmer with him, may, without any elfort'and in an insignificant space a of time, completely clear the top of the fermenter of foam.

my invention I will now describe the same in detail in connection with the. accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure I is a view in sectional elevation,

showing two ormore alined tanks equipped with funnels, telescopic tubes and a common Having set forth the objects and nature of drain according to my invention. Fig. II is an enlarged detail top plan view of my foamremovin apparatus. Fig. III is a detail view in e evation, showing the means. for attaching the foam-removing paddle to the tank and for vertically adjusting the same.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig.1, a number of tanks, 1, are shown as in communication through their bottoms with pipes 2, leading to drain 3,

through which water asses to yeast-separating apparatus. Within the tanks and near the sides thereof, as shown in Fig. 2, are vertical telescopic tubes 4, connected at their lower ends with pipes2, and terminating at their upper ends in a flared ortion or funnel 5. The telescopic joint 6, o the tube 4, is suitably stuffed to prevent leakage into the tubes of the mash in the tanks 1, and the joint at the bottom of the tube 4 with the ipe 2 is also suitably packed to prevent lieaka e from the tank or .tube at this point.

' Re erring. to Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown a bar 7, adapted to be clamped as at 8 and 9 to the upper edge of the wall of the tank.

Located centrally of the bar 7, is a rod or shaft 10, and pivotally mounted on suitable bearings 11 and 12 on the shaft 10 is a board or paddle 13. Suitable adjusting means as indicated at 10', are provided for determin ing the elevationof the paddle 13, or its position with respect to the supporting bar 7. Also supported referablyin suitable bearings on the sh 10'is a 'de 14, which, when the bar 7 is in place is ada ted to be swung into the position shown in ig. 2, and by means of a suitable retaining device, as for instance a spring latch 15, held in such osition during the skimming operation.

he paddle 13 1s preferably jointed or of the shape shown in 1 ig. 2. By virtue of this jointed construction the outer end 16 of the paddle may be held snugly against the side of the tank.

Operation: Tanks of the character described are usually required by law to have a space of from five'to twenty inches between t e upper level of the mash and the top of the tank; this space is indicated in Fig. I. During the fermentation process, the tube 4 of my invention is so extended that the funnel portion 5 protrudes above .the level of the mash, the sides of the tank being often temporarily heightened by the use of tins. Durmg the fermentation the foam collects above the level of the mash. When the yeast is ripe, or it is desired to remove the foam, the funnel is forced down through the foam almost to the level of the mash. The bar 7 is then clam )ed in position as shown in Fig. 11, and the e evation of the paddles suitably adjusted according to the level of the foam. The guide 14 is then latched in place near the olf-take 4. The operator then turning the paddle 13 back against the paddle 14, seizes the paddle 13, and holding the end 16 of the paddle snugly against the inside of the tank, walks with the paddle around the platform at the top of the tank. In revolving, the paddle forces in front of it the foam until the latter is brought to the funnel 5 of the offtake and is carried away.

The apparatus shown and described may be, of course, modified in many res ects. The bar '7, and its attachments mig t be permanently fixed to the tank.

Various other means for adjusting the height of the guide and paddle, and other forms of its members might be used. These modifications are all apparent and fall within the scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention,

. what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

1. In a device of the character described, in combination with a tank, an off-take adapted to remove the foam from the surface of the liquid, a guide for the foam and a cooperating movable paddle.

2. In a device of the character described, in combination with a tank an off-take for foam, a bar extending across the top of the in combination with a' tank an ofl-take adapted to be adjusted as to height, a sta tionary guide to the oif-take, and a cooperating movable paddle.

5. in a device of the character described, in combination with a tank an off-take,

means for adjusting the height of said off;

take, a stationary guide, and a 006 erating movable paddle, said guide and sai paddle being composed of a plurality of pivotally connected members.

6. In a device of the character described, in combination with a tank an off-take, a bar or frame removably secured to the tank and of which'the offtake is independent, a normally fixed adjustable guide secured at one end to the bar and at the other end to the tank and composedof a plurality of pivot- .ally connected members, and a cooperating movable uide pivoted to the bar, substantially as escribed.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 12th day of November, 1906.

' OTTO G. LUYTIES.

Witnesses:

W. W. POWELL, L. H. LATHAM. 

